After Five Acquisitions, Eight-Month-Old 1105 Media Grows to a $110 Million Company

After making its first acquisition last April, that of 101Communications for an estimated $73 million to $75 million, 1105 Media began quickly building up. The publisher, backed by Boston-based Nautic Partners and Alta Communications and helmed by former Petersen Publishing and Cahners Publishing executive Neal Vitale, scooped up Stevens Publishing within weeks of its 101Communications buy.

It went on to buy Contingency Planning and Management Group and Post Tech Newsweek. It also launched two of its own magazines, Respiratory Management and Redmond Developer. This week, it announced the purchase of Fawcette Technical Publications and the CPM Group, producer of contingency planning and management conferences and information products serving the fields of business continuity, emergency management and security.

The acquisitions has taken 1105 from a $75 million company to one with revenues of $110 million in 2006. But is it growing too fast? Vitale said no, in an interview with Folio: Alert this week, adding that the company, which currently employs 350 people, is not done growing.

Folio: Alert: So you’ve made two more acquisitions, will 1105 continue its build-out?
Vitale: We want to continue to grow and to deliver compelling content to our readers and strong performance to our investors. And we will continue growing through new launches and through acquisitions.

Folio: Alert: Early on, was it part of 1105’s strategy to grow as quickly as you have?
Vitale: The strategy we set out to do was to flesh out the properties we have and to serve our different markets the best we can. We’ve always wanted to expand our media. And we’ve done that. With our acquisitions, we’ve deepened our presence in the markets we serve.

Folio: Alert: What are 1105’s key markets?
Vitale: We’re predominately in two sectors, the public and government sector. Our second sector deals with the IT industry, mostly in IT compliance. And we have a smaller presence in the areas of office equipment and medical products.

Folio: Alert: 1105 was a company formed almost entirely through the acquisitions of various companies and brands. What is the 1105 brand? Is there a 1105 brand?
Vitale: We’re not terribly interested in establishing a 1105 brand beyond the media industry. Our point is to support the brands we’ve acquired in the markets they serve.

Folio: Alert: What’s up next for 1105?
Vitale: We’ll announce at least one more acquisition before the end of the month and I would hope that you will see us continue to perform well. I think we have a good strategy, there’s a great demand for our products and we need to continue to deliver good content to the markets we serve.